Ice skate



April 9, 1935. L. KAUB 1,996,925

ICE SKATE v Filed April 16, 1954 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 0. L. KAUB April 9, 1935.

ICE SKATE Filed April 16, 19:54 2 Sheets-Sheet, 2

Patented Apr. 9, 1935 UNITED? STATES PATENT. OFFICE on SKATE Ottmar Louis Kaub, St. Louis, Mo. Application April-16, 1934, Serial No. 720,773

13 Claims;

More specifically, the main purpose ofthis in-' vention is the production of a skate that will simultaneously embody the following major adlu' vantages: g

1. Substantialreduction of ankle strain without the useofobstructing rubber pads or other impediments. a v j 2'. A; skate that will allow the shoe to thrust lsa to any angle requiredin racing without attendant bending, of, the ankles or a lifting ofone blade from the ice.

3. A skate whose shoe cannot come into contact with the ice to cause tripping.

4. A skate that will curve in accordance with the angle and direction of thrust of the skaters body. '5; A skate of practical construction, strong, exact,,lig ht: in weight and compact in width and height. I I

Other advantages are hereinafter described and: illustrated. I V

The skate most commonly used today is the single blade; skateriveted to special skating shoes.

30* The principal disadvantage of this skate is the ankle strain. caused by the leverage of, the blade against the-skaters foot. This ankle-strain discourages many people from enjoying the sport, and: even: the most practiced skaters sometimes 35afind: their anklebending and their shoe rubbingthe ice when making a fast turn.

An: objectrof this invention is towprovide a freely pivoting double blade skatewitha pivoting point asclose-tothe. bottom of thefoot as structurally 40' possible in.- order. to reduce ankle strain, and so constructed and arranged that various angles of thrust willbe possible without bending theankles or causing onezbladeto-lift from the ice.

Another disadvantage of the single blade skate 45$isthe resistance caused by the gouging efiect produced bythe action of the straight side of the blade resisting, the turning effect of the curved edge. Arr object of this inventionis the elimination of: such. gouging.

Other inventions aim to reduce-the ankle strain by; the; interposition of rubber pads or springs between the skaters foot and adouble pair of blades. These pads, however; prevent alow inclination of the shoe. Maneuveringon the iceis 553 'accomplished by vertical pressure on one side or the other of the pads, which inclination governs the direction of the skate.

On quadruple-blade skates without rubber pads,

. an inadvertent inclination toeither side would cause a sudden change in theskates-direction Y and cause the skater to losebalance.

Other double blade skates topple over When a low angle of thrust is attempted and there is no natural turning of the skate due tothe angle of thrust of the skaters body, the blades persisting to follow a straight line unless-continually shifted by the skaters foot.

Other double blade skates have the blades tilt O with the angle of the skaters body, but thereis no tion. Fig. 3 shows an orthographic projection of aside oi the skate. Figulflshowsthe converging effect of-the ice contacting-surfaces that would take place ifthe blades were placed exactly fiat. Fig. 5 showsthe result :of bending the blades outwardly from. their centers."- Fig." 6 shows a cross section of anenlargement of the ice contacting. portionqof one blade that isrounded. Fig.- 7 shows an enlargement of a cross section of 302 a rink skate blade with the ice contacting sur= faces obtusely related; Fig. 8 shows an .enlarge-. ment of a cross section of another form that may be given to the blade of a rinkskate. Fig... 9 shows another form of construction in cross section of the skate using a light alloy like Duralumin tohold thesteel' bladesin position'Fig. 10 shows: the changeable height heel support.

Fig. 11 isa detail View of-6 of Figs. 1 and 2.

In Fig. 1, l is a rod about which the shoe 2 freely pivots. The center of rod 1 is the pivoting center. By placing the. rod as close to the shoe sole as structurally practical, the ankle strain is reduced to a minimum while'stillallowing the shoe to pivot freely about the rod. These blades, or the blades and the supporting Duralumin structure are divergingly disposed from the pivot at angles, i. e. acute angles to the. ice in order to allow the shoeto tilt freely to any required angle without contacting the skate structure or causing one blade to.lift from the ice. Item the braces between the blades' l and 5. 6 is a.- sleeveon the skate .thru which rod l passes.

'l is the shoe-plate. 8 is a shoe support. 9, II], II

and. i2" are the'four ice contacting; surfaces of the blades. I3 and I4 are the edges of intersection of 9, I0 and II, I2 respectively. Lines I5 and I 6, drawn thru the pivot center and the ice contacting blade edges to the ice, represent the lowest natural thrust angles of the skate as angles I5, I3,

I4 and I6, I4, I3.

In Figs. 1, 2, and 3, I9 are rivets securing blades 4 and 5 to part Ii. 20 are the rivets securing support 8 to the shoe plate 1. 2| are the rivets securing brace 3 to the blades 4 and 5. In Fig. 9, 26 is the skate frame. In Fig. 10, 23 is the sleeve adjacent the shoe plate. 24 is an extra sleeve on the heel support thru which the rod I may be inserted to raise the height of the heel. In Fig. 4, surfaces I0 and II are shown flat with a resultant convergence of I3 and I4 at the front and rear. This convergence is undesirable because it slows down the skate. In Fig. 5, surfaces III and I I are shown convex in accordance with this invention. In Fig. 3, I1 is one of two springs on either side of the skate, one end of which is fastened to the of points I3 and I4 as line I8, one blade, 4, would I attempt to leave the ice but would be held down by the shoe supporting structure. This condition would hardly ever obtain. By measuring the radius of the turn followed by racers in indoor meets, and figuring'the highest speed ever attained on an indoor track, it has been calculated that the lowest angle to which a racer will lean is 50 degrees and this new skate will permit an angle of thrust lower than that at present required for racing.

Referring now to Fig. 3, it will be noted that the blades are curved to any desirable radii. I shall call these radii, outer ice contacting surfaces as 9 and I2 in Figs. 1 and 2. If the skate were constructed with the blades flat as at Fig. 4, the ice contacting surfaces would tend to converge at the front and rear. To prevent this, the blades are curved outwardly in just the proper amount to make the ice contacting edges I3 and I4 parallel. now be curved convexly in curves equal to the curves of the end surfaces 9 and I2. The result of this arrangement is that the ice contacting surfaces 9 and II are parallel their entire length (with the exception of the upturned front portions) as are the ice and I2.

The curvedplanes 9, II and I0, I2 respectively are kept parallelby the braces which are exactly equal in length, and contact the blades at equal distances from the surfaces 9 and I2. The inner ice contacting surfaces I0 and II, I shall call inner ice contacting surfaces. The result of this construction is the elimination of convergence and the gouging mentioned above.

When the skaters foot is in a horizontal position asin Fig. 1, the pressure on both blades is equal and is distributed equally on the four curved planes 9, III, II, I2, and the skate travels in'a straight line. But when the skater takes a stroke as in Fig. 2, more pressure will be against curved surfaces I2 and II) respectively, which surfaces will predominate, causing the skate to turn in the direction 25. The lower the angle of thrust, the greater this turning effect. The greatest turning effect is attained when the lowest thrust is reached as shown by line I8 in Fig. 2.

side the regular sleeve in the shoe supports 8 The inside surfaces In and II will contacting surfaces III Further maneuvering can of course be accomplished by turning the skate laterally or by cross stepping.

Since this skate always presents very sharp edges to the ice, a very firm grip is afforded. Under some conditions, the grip of only one blade will be sufficient. For instance, in racing a left hand course, the outer blade on the right foot will receive the most thrust at all times. Therefore, the left blade can be rounded as shown in Fig. 6. This will facilitate maneuvering. The same rounding can be used on either skate wherever desirable. Also, the upturned front portion of one of the blades should be rounded to prevent the front portion of the skate from wedging into the ice.

, To facilitate maneuvering on a rink skate for which a low thrust angle is not required, the ice contacting surfaces may be obtusely related as shown in Fig. 7. I

Fig. 8 shows another form of the angularly re lated ice contacting surfaces. I When skating along leisurely, the two obtusely related surfaces are effective, but when a low thrust is directed against the blade, it sinks deeply into the ice, thereby bringing a third surface into effect and giving the skate a firmer grip on the ice.

Other features of these skates are the quickly changeable height of the heel, and the several settings for the sole supports. Inasmuch as the skate structure is connected to the shoe bythe easily removed rods I, the skater can adjustthe heel height very quickly by removing the rod from sleeve 23 and inserting it in sleeve 24: Fig. 10. Likewise, difierent offsets can be provided by the placing of additional sleeves as 22 along as shown in Figs. 1 and 2. I

downwardly diverging bladesfastened to said frame, a pivot sleeve at the upper portion of said frame, and a shoe plate I, having a support, 8, with a pivot, I, adjacent the shoe plate, said support being freely pivoted upon the skate frame.

3. In an ice skate, a shoe plate, a blade supporting structure pivotally connected to said plate, a pair of blades attached to said structure, said blade supporting structure and said blades diverging from the pivot to the ice contacting edges of the blades and said shoe plate being free to pivot on said skate structure when the skate is being operated by the skater.

4. In an ice skate, a shoe plate, adjacent pivot sleeves in connection with said plate, a skate structure, means freely pivotally connecting said sleeves to said skate structure, said skate structure being constructed so that the shoe plate can freely thrust to various angles without contacting the skate structure and without causing one blade to lift from the ice while in operative position on the shoe of a skater.

5. In an ice skate, a skate frame, a shoe plate pivotally connected to said frame, a pair of blades Having described my invention, what I claim attached to said frame, said frame and said blades diverging downwardly from the pivot to the ice contacting edges i3 and I4 of said blades, 4 and 5 respectively, said blades having curved inner and outer ice contacting surfaces, l0, II and 9, [2 respectively, the inner ice contacting surfaces Ii] and II being curved convexly in curves equal to the curves of the outer ice contacting surfaces 9, i2.

6. In a double blade ice skate, a skate frame, a pair of blades attached to said frame, a pivot sleeve in said frame, a shoe supporting structure freely pivoted to said skate structure, means for the reduction of ice gouging, said means consisting of equal convex curves 9, l and I I, I2 on the blades 4 and respectively.

7. In a double blade ice skate, a skate frame, a pair of blades 4 and 5 attached to said frame, a pivot sleeve in said frame, a shoe supporting structure freely pivoted to said skate structure, convex curves s, iii and I5, I2 on blades 4 and 5 respectively, and the inner curves In and II being formed by bending the blades 4 and 5 and securing them in a curved position.

8. An ice skate comprising a shoe plate, pivot engaging means secured to the under side of said plate, a pair of blades diverging downwardly from each other and attached to said plate, a pivot sleeve secured to the diverging blades, and a pivot element mounted in the sleeve and pivot engaging means for attaching said blades to said plate whereby the plate may be free topivot on the blades.

9. An ice skate comprising a shoe plate, pivot engaging means secured to the under side of said plate, a pair of blades diverging downwardly from each other and attached to said plate, a pivot sleeve secured to the diverging blades, and a pivot element mounted in the sleeve and pivot engaging means for attaching said blades to said plate whereby the plate may be free to pivot on the blades from the horizontal position to angles equal to the angles produced by lines drawn through the pivot center and the ice contacting blade edges.

10. An ice skate comprising a shoe plate, pivot engaging means secured to the under side of said plate adjacent thereto, a pair of blades diverging downwardly from each other and attached to said plate, a pivot sleeve secured to the diverging blades at the place of convergence, and a pivot element mounted in the sleeve and pivot engaging means for attaching said blades to said plate whereby the blades may be free to pivot on the plate.

11. An ice skate comprising a shoe plate, plurality of pivot engaging means secured to the under side of said plate, a pair of blades diverging downwardly from each other and attached to said plate, a pivot sleeve secured to the diverging blades, and a pivot element mounted in the sleeve for attaching said pivot sleeve with any one of the several pivot engaging means on the shoe plate whereby the blades may be free to pivot on the plate.

12. An ice skate comprising a shoe plate, pivot engaging means secured to the under side of said plate, a pair of blades diverging downwardly from each other and attached to said plate, a pivot sleeve secured to the diverging blades, and a pivot element mounted in the sleeve and pivot engaging means for attaching said blades to said plate whereby the plate may be free to pivot on the blades, and convexly curved ice contacting surfaces on the blades for causing the skate to turn in either direction in accordance with the angle and direction of thrust of the skaters body.

13. An ice skate comprising a shoe plate, pivot engaging means secured to the under side of said plate, a pair of blades diverging downwardly from each other and attached to said plate, a pivot sleeve secured to the diverging blades, and a pivot element mounted in the sleeve and pivot engaging means for attaching said blades to said plate whereby the plate may be free to pivot on the blades, and one of the blades having a rounded ice contacting surface.

OTTMAR LOUIS KAUB. 

